Wednesday: If You Love Me, Keep My Commandments
Israel — the nation as a whole — was called to love God. But this was something that could happen only individually. As a single human being given free will, each Israelite had to make the choice to love God — and they were to show that love through obedience.
What do the following texts have in common? That is, what is the common theme among them?
Image © Steve Creitz from GoodSalt.com
How much clearer could the Word of God be? Just as God doesn’t merely say He loves us but has revealed that love for us by what He has done and still does, God’s people, too, are to show their love to God by their actions. And in these texts we see that love to God is inseparably linked to obedience to Him.
This is why, when John says things like, “For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments” (1 John 5:3), or when Jesus says, “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15), these verses are merely expressing this basic teaching. Love to God must always be expressed by obedience to God. That has always been the case, and it always will be. And this obedience to God means obedience to His law, the Ten Commandments, which includes the fourth commandment as well, the Sabbath. Keeping the fourth commandment is no more legalism than is keeping any of the other nine.
Though obedience to any of the commandments can be legalism, that kind of obedience isn’t really done out of love for God. When we truly love God, especially because of what He has done for us in Christ Jesus, we want to obey Him, because that’s what He asks us to do.
When Moses over and over told Israel to love and obey God, he did it after they had been redeemed from Egypt. That is, their love and obedience was a response to the redemption that God had given them. They had been redeemed by the Lord. Now they would respond by faithfully obeying His commandments. Is it any different today?
| What is your own experience in seeking to obey God? That is, what are your own motives in obeying God? Why should it be done out of love for Him? What role, if any, should fear, the biblical understanding of fear, play, as well? |
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Micah has this to say:
This is not a religion steeped in tradition and religious ceremony. It is a strategic plan for living. I won't cloud the issue with my own comments this morning. I have to put this principle into practice.
Today's lesson states that "love to God is inseparably linked to obedience to Him." This statement is absolutely true. But why and how is it true? Once again, we need to go behind the words themselves and 'see' what is actually/functionally going on.
What is love? From a Kingdom-of-God-reality perspective, 'love' is having a heart that is self-giving other-benefiting - just like Jesus did. This means that your attitude, thoughts and actions towards others are to genuinely benefit their growth and development. Sometimes this means giving others what they are seeking - and sometimes it means refraining from doing so in order to avoid 'enabling' them when what they are seeking is not in their actual best interests.
Ellen White proposes that this other-focussed giving is the absolute foundational principle (or 'law') of life for earth and heaven and that this motivational principle has its origin/source in the heart of God (Desire of Ages). If this is true (and I absolutely believe it is), living in accordance with this principle is the only way that life viably works. Anything else is merely a 'temporary' state of 'dead man walking'.
That brings us to the next functional point - 'obedience'. Obedience simply means to be in complete harmony with.
What about 'commandments'? As other contributors have said a few days ago, from a functional Kingdom-of-God perspective, God's commandments are 'simply' accurate descriptions/instructions about the only way that true life can and does infact work (eg Deuteronomy 5:33; 6:2,3,18,24; 30:15,16).
Putting this together, why and how is "love to God... inseparably linked to obedience to Him"? Because true (abundant: John 10:10) life is only only possible when we live in accordance with the only way that true life works - the way of beneficence/other-benefiting love. Just as there is no other God, there is no other viable way of life (John 14:6). Our ever-increasingly broken world is irrefutable testament to that.
How will you choose to live today - and why will you choose that way?
Two points caught my attention in today's topic.
Deut 10:12-13 and Deut 19:9 talk about walking in the way of the LORD which reminds me that Jesus said I am the Way, the Truth and the Life which sounds to me like a summary of Deut 11:1. Also before they were call Christians they were called followers of the Way. Acts 9:2, Acts 19:9,23.
I believe the LORD's Principles of Life were known and handed down orally before Moses received them again from the LORD and wrote them down because of the similarity between Deut 11:1 and Gen 26:5.
Gen 26:5
Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws.
In Tuesday's reply to Paulette, Phil revealed an important fact that deepens my understanding of Ecc.12:13 and tells me how careful we have to be to make sure to see all Scripture in context of its overarching Truth - God is the expression of His Nature which is perfect Love.
Translations seem to, at times, have a way to 'turn' the Scripture's spiritual intent/truth to become the 'workable' approach in the physical environment of man. My understanding is that all Scripture "has been given by inspiration of God, ...", but this does not necessarily include all the different *translations* of the Scriptures' original texts.
So, in the context of today's lesson, what then is 'all the duty of man' as recorded in Ecc.12:13? Is it not to learn to, and do love Him with all our being? How do we do this - is it by 'works' or by 'faith' or both? If we say we love God and want to demonstrate this by walking according as Christ has shown us - yes, we are admonished to do this - but 'walking in the ways of Christ' does not save us in and of itself; these acts remain 'works' when done outside of accepting/receiving Christ's work of Justification for our sin.
Gal.2:15-16 tells us ".... that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the Faith OF Jesus Christ, even we [Jews] have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law; for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified."
So, when we seek to 'love God with all our being', it means we seek to be justified by the 'Faith of Christ', not by the works of obedience to the law.
This is a very significant distinction the Scriptures make between what the Faith of Christ has accomplished, and what we are admonished to show by walking the Way Christ's Faith has shown us.
I am motivated by God's Love who accepted me, the estranged sinner, and covered me with the 'Robe of Christ's Righteousness'; opening the 'door to His kingdom' here on earth to live as a member of the Family of God.
On this blog we have had many discussions as to what is meant by "the faith of Jesus" in Rev 12:17
While researching another topic I came across this quote by Ellen White which I found interesting, it seems to me to be explaining that it means we must have faith in Jesus' ability to save us, not the faith He had in the Father while He was on this earth as some believe.
Ahh, I understand by Christ's faith you mean Christ's Teachings or His Words.
Matt 7:24, John 5:24, John 6:63,68; John 14:6,23-26
When I hear the word faith I usually think of believing and trusting in the LORD.
Heb 11:1; Heb 11:6; Eph 2:8-9
Over and over we are told we need to obey God in response to what He has done for us. And in and of itself, that is not a bad idea. The problem is that just wanting to obey, even out of love, is not possible. If you look at the letter of the law, we might be able to obey in our own strength, but not if we consider the spirit of the law. We need God's love to transform us and make it possible to obey. We do have to cooperate, but it is still God's work. Seeking to obey God out of love or out of fear is still a focus on self and will never accomplish true obedience. We need the New Covenant experience of the law being written on our hearts. I am sad that the lesson is ignoring this fact completely. (And it can be found in Deuteronomy - I see glimpses of it in Deuteronomy 10:16).
Christina - I agree with your observation. You touched on the most salient point of the whole matter when stating that: "We need God's love to transform us and make it possible to obey." All acts found outside of this, by God initiated *environment of His love*, are still considered 'works' of the flesh.
This fact is the most difficult aspect of faith for the Christian to come to terms with; 'it is in and through Christ Jesus as the author and finisher of our faith that we find live and live' - Heb.12:2 paraphrased.
Could anyone honestly say they love someone if they always act contrary to their wishes? Keep in mind that love is not demonstrated by how we feel about someone, but by how we treat them. Love is a principle of action, not a flight of feeling. Our good actions must be because they are right, and not depend on whether we like someone or not. Love is to be shown to God as well as our enemies, or we will be evil.
The experience of obedience must always begin with “deny himself”(Matt 16:24), which is to become meek and lowly(humble), then seeking to know the will of God in order to do it, not merely on occasion or when convenient, but “in all your ways acknowledge Him”.
I like the definition of “fear” expressed in the answer of Joseph when tempted to depart from the “good, acceptable, and perfect will of God”(Gen 39:9). Joseph could not allow himself to offend the One who had blessed him so much.